Category: Human Rights

When you listen to people across the ‘political spectrum’, from the left (meaning legitimate left, like Noam Chomsky, not the American DNC ‘left’) to the right, there seems to be a very clear and distinct difference in the way they communicate. Not just that, but also in the legitimacy of the arguments they put forward when debating or advocating for something. What you tend to find, when you compare certain people on a particular topic, is that one side (the left) comes off as intelligent, while the other (the right) delves into an arrogant sense of perceived intelligence.

Videos and headlines surfaced last night (AEST) of Julian Assange being forced out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and straight into a police van. In a faint voice – he certainly looked and sounded like he’d spent 7 years locked in a small room – he was calling “the UK must resist”. Seeing as Ecuador’s corrupt and bought President betrayed him, and the UK has now arrested him for probable extradition to the US, it is up to his home country to take a stand. Australia.

When I say that that US has not changed, what I am referring to is their international dealings and foreign policies. For sure, there are small but relatively substantial differences between the Republican Party and the Democrats within America itself, but outside America who cares. To paraphrase Noam Chomsky, the Democrats have shifted to become the Republicans of the late 1900’s, and the Republicans themselves are no longer a political party so much as they are the most dangerous organisation in human history.

Julian Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since he took refuge there in 2012. He was running from multiple charges, but the murkiest are the ones threatening to have him spirited away into the US for the crime of shining a light on power. WikiLeaks is arguably one of the most important organisations in history, and now its Australian founder might be counting down his final days in London – and not willingly.

David Draiman’s song Out of Line, featuring Serj Tankian, is easily my favourite song on his album Device. It doesn’t hold back on its criticism of abusive power, which remains undefined but can be applied to any autocratic or plutocratic institution. From the chorus:

I have seen some people recently start to question why we are hearing so much about the aftermath of the Christchurch terror attack in New Zealand. Some say it’s just becoming ‘old news’, wanting the news cycle to move on, while others have come out with rather offensive and politically charged responses. But, although one might argue that maybe the story has saturated the media more than expected, I think there are some very worthwhile reasons to keep reporting on how the country has reacted.

This must have been the title of the clickbait advertisement the Trump administration saw and decided to click on when the International Criminal Court rocked up to investigate US war crimes in Afghanistan. Because only the innocent attempt to obstruct justice, right?

Let it be known without question that the Coalition in Australia has spent the last decade running brutally divisive and racially charged campaigns to snatch up votes in elections they know they cannot win any other way. It is how Tony Abbott won in 2013, it is one of the reasons Turnbull won in 2016, and it is disgustingly possible that those filthy bastards will do so again this year with Morrison at the helm. Anning’s comments appeared to unite the Australian people against him – our politicians are not so easily agreeable.

Australian Senator Fraser Anning’s response to the Christchurch terror attack was a disgrace. It was a disgrace to Australians and our government, the letterhead of which was used in the statement, it was a disgrace to those of Islamic faith and New Zealanders as a whole, and most damningly it was a disgrace to the memory of the innocent victims that parted from us yesterday. Anning does not deserve to be a member of our Parliament, he deserves to face the full force of the consequences of his actions and the role people like him play in causing events like this to occur.

Today, across the globe, humanity cried out in pain. Thousands upon thousands marched in over 100 countries, in thousands of cities. Children taking to the streets in defiance of our world’s leadership, against those who have failed us all – children who, if things do not change, may not have a future. And so they fight for it. Simultaneously, our attention is diverted and hearts shattered as news from Christchurch shows a depravity no words can describe. As of writing, 49 have died and at least 40 were injured in, as the media seems reluctant to label it, a terror attack against two mosques, with one perpetrator a confirmed white supremacist. Thousands upon thousands add their voices in sorrow as more details are released. The best and the worst of our humanity is laid bare, suffering, but united.